Creating a Data-Entry Form

Word contains extensive tools for building forms that you can use in a number of ways:

You can create a form that's designed to be printed and subsequently filled out with a pen or a typewriter. Typically, you'll create and maintain such a form as a standard Word document.

You can make a form that's designed to be filled out online (by using either Word or a Web browser). The user fills in the missing information—say, customer name and line items for an invoice, or payment instructions for a statement—and then prints the form. These kinds of forms are almost invariably set up as templates, with portions of the form (say, the return address) "locked" so the user can't alter them. When the form is filled out (as in Figure 16.6), it can be printed, saved, or handled like any other document.

Figure 16.6. A custom invoice form created and saved as a template can be filled out and mailed to a customer.